Door-operating mechanism.



P. R'. FORMAN. DOQR OPERATING MBGHANISM. APPLIQATION FILED SEPT. 16,1909.

Patented Aug. 29, 1911.

3 SHEBTSSEEBT l.

A ANA/NNW P. R. FORMAN DOOR OPERATING MBCHANISM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.16

Patented Aug. 29, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@wi/knew@ P. R. FORMAN.

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 1s, 1909;

UNITED STATES IAYIENT OFFICE PARIS R. FORMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR, BY IVESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO NATIONAL PNEUMATIC COMPANY, ACORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Speciication of Letters Patent.

Patented Ang. I29, 1911.

To all i/.ri-o'm it may concern:

Be it known that I, Panis R. IORMnN, a citizen'of the United States,residing in the .city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State provide dooroperating mechanism eni- .bod in@ ower devices for movin the door meansto enable and automatic ,releasingl 1 and independent y the door to bemoved by of the power devices.

A further object of the invention is to` provide door operatingmechanism, includ.

ing power devices for operating the door, and automatic controllingdevices whereby. when the door is wide open, it can be closed either byhand or by the power devices as desired. f

A 'further object of the invention is to provide a door operatingmechanism including power operated devices for moving the door and meanswhereby the door can be moved by hand, independently of the poweroperated devices, the power operated devices fo-llowingup the doormovements and effecting the final movement of the door,

'- if desired, and ready to accomplish thel power actuation of the door.

Other objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

vThe invention consists substantially in the construction, combination,location and relative arrangement of parts, all as will be more fullyhereinafter set forth, as shown in the accompanying drawings, andfinally pointed out in the appended claims.

lIn the accompanying drawings,Fignre 1 is a view in side elevation of aconstruction embodying the principles of myinvention. Fig. '2 is adetail view, showing a dis'- placed position ofthe parts. Fig. 3 is'afsimilar view showing means for causing the power operated devices tofollow up the movements of the door when effected by hand independentlyof the power devices. Fig. et is aview in vertical transverse section ontheline 4, 4, Fig. 3, through the pivot of theqdoor operating arm orlever.

In carryingout my invention, I provide power operated devices, which,under suitable control, edects the opening and closing movements of thedoor. I also provide means whereby the door may be detached from itspower operated devices so as to'be capable of movement by handindependently of such devices. I'also provide means whereby, whendesired, the door movements, when eifected by hand independently of thepower devices, may be followed up by the power devices, and the latterautomatically engaged with the door so as to complete, if necessary, thefinal movements of the door and to hold or lock the door in the limit ofits movement, or whereby further movement of the door may be effected ineither direction by the power devices. Y

In Figs. l and 2, I have shown a door operating mechanism `embodyingpower devices for eifectingl the operation of the door, with automaticdetachable devices whereby t-he door may be moved by hand independentlyof its power mechanism, and in Fig. 3,

I have shown applied to such mechanism means for enabling the'powerdevices to follow up and to automatically engage or lock with the doormoving devices, whereby y the door movements are again under control ofthe power devices.

Referring particularly to Figs.` I and 2, the operating cylinder of thepower devices is formed of two portions A, A', arranged in line witheach other, in each of which' operates a piston B, B', these pistonsbeing connected together through a rack C. The proximate ends of theportions A, A', of the power cylinder are open to the atmosphere and,subject to suitable control,

oressure medium is su 'Jlied to the remote ends of the portions A, A,from a valve' chest F, througlinthe operation of a suitable valve, ofwhich G is the operating arm, the movements of which being controlled inany convenient orysuitable manner, or froinany desired point,as forinstance, yvmeans of a cont-rol handleII, and intermediate connectionsThe' rack C, mesheswith and rotat-ively actnate's ,a segment gear D, foroperating the door moving lever K.

The\parts so far described, in the specific details of construction oroperation thereof, form no part of my present invention, and theyoperate in the usual manner of such devices. The arm K, beingconnectedto the .doorL for operating the same in the usual or l.any ordinary orwell known manner, so that `when the lever K. is rocked in one directionor the other, the door is correspondingly moved into open or closedposition. In this form of my invention, the door moving lever K, ismounted upon and rocks with l ya shaft 4, journaled in a standard 20,which engage the arm 9, of

isshown as part of the cylinder casting. ,The segment gear D is looselyhinged or pivoted to rock on the shaft 4:, and is provided with an arm5, having a lug or pro'- jection 6, arranged to engage against one edgeof the door operating leverl K. A vpawl-7 is pivoted as at 8, upon thearm or extension 5, of the segment gear, said pawl having Van arm 9,normally held by `the spring 10, or otherwise, against a stop 1.1, kand1n position for the end off' the pawl engage a shoulder 12, formed on orsecured to the door operating lever K, and shaft 4.' .A fixed stop'13,is arranged to thepawl 7,' when the door is in its wide openposition,'whereby the pawl is rocked about 'its pivot 8, to disengagethe pawl from engagement with shoulder 12.y

From the description, it will be. seen that if the valve .control handleH, is moved to operate the valve to admit. pressure to the closed end ofportion A', ofthe cylinder, so as to cause the pistons B, B, to move`toward the left hand end of the power cylinder, the rack gear D, willbe rotatively movedLand with it the arm 5, and the lug or proj'ectiony6, in the same direction as that of. the hands of a clock, the lug orpro- .will-be carried out of quently moving the door.

jection 6, engaging against the rear edge of the door operating lever K,and conse- The moment this motion isinaugurated, the arm 9 ofl pawl 7,engagement with stop 13, thereby enabling spring 10 to move pawl 7 intoengagement with the shoulder 12,

thereby securely locking the door operating lever K, to the arm 5, andgear D, so that any further motion .of the power mechanism, in eitherdirection, will cause a corresponding movement of the door operatingever K, and therefore of the door. If, however, when the door is wideopen, this being the position of the parts shown in Fig. l, and it isdesired to close the door by hand, and without the intervention of thepower devices, the door can be easily and readily moved toward closedposition, since the door operating lever K, and the locking 'shoulder12, are movable entirely independently of the arm 5 and pawl 7, saidpawl being disengaged from' the locking shoulder 'rection to cause thelug 6I 12, when the door operating lever is in its extreme position ofthrow to open the door. In other words, by completely opening the door,the power me chanismv through which t-he door operating lever K, may beoperated, is entirely disconnected from the door operating lever,leaving thedoor operating lever free to rock or swing independently ofthe powerdevices, and hence enabling the door to be moved by hand towardclosed position, the operating mechanism being left in the positioncorresponding to that occupied by it whenthe door is wideopen. In thisman- Iier, the door may be, if desired, completely closed or opened .byhand, and independently of its power operating 'mechanism Whateverposition into which the door is moved, by hand, whether it isV partiallyclosed or completely closed, after being detached or disconnected fromits power operating devices, said power operating devices are left incondition to be again coupled operatingly with the door moving lever K.This is `accomplished by manipulating the valve control handle H, or thevalve arm G, in such manner as to admit the pressure medium to theclosedtend of portion A `of the cylinder, thereby causing the rack barC, `connecting the pistons B, B, to move toward the left, and throughthe engagement of said rack bar with segment gear D, causing the latterto rock. freely about its pivot shaft 4,

of'arm 5,.to api door operating proach or follow up the was moved bvlever K.` When the door yhand from its wide open position, and after thepawl 7 has been disengaged from shoulder 12, said shoulder moved freelypast the engaging end of pawl '7. Therefore, when the segment gear D isrocked to causeflug and in a dia 6 to follow up or approach the dooroperat# ing lever K, and effect a rengagementrof the pawl mechanism withlthe door operating lever K, the engaging end of pawl 7 rides over thesurface 15, 'until said engaging end snaps again into engaging` relationwith respect to shoulder 12, under the influence of vthe tension ofspring 10, thereby again locking the power operatingfmechanism to thedoor` operating lever, the pawl 17 engaging the shoulder 12, in onedirection, and the lug @engaging the door operating lever K, inthe'other direction so as to compel coincident movement of the powermechanism and the door operating lever K. Thereafter, the powermechanism may com- 4plete the closingA movement of the door, if

the door hasl not alreadybeen completelv closed by hand, and'alsosecurely holds the door closed by the pressure of medium in the powercylinder.

In practice, I

prefer to so arrange the` parts that when the door is closed, the doorvthe operating` ,f

movinglev'er K, will occupy substantially' or cally follow up and berengaged or recoupled to the door operating lever after the' owermechanism has been disconnected,

om the door operating lever, by moving thedoor into completely" openedposition, as 15 above-explained, to permit the door to be moved byphand,independently of the'v power mechanism. "Itmay also be 4desired to pro-Vide means fo'r automatically operating the valve in the valve Vchest-so as to secure a cushioning effect of the door as it appreaches thelimits 'of its' movement. ln Fig. 3, I have shown means foraccomplishing these purposes, as one particular embodi- -ment ofdevicesfor accomplishing said re` 25' sults', and wherein a casting 16, ispivotally mounted as at 17, upon the standard 20. This casting 16, isprovided with a lug 18, connected through arod 19, with thevalveoperatinglever Gr, so that by rocking casting 16, in one directionor the other', the valve lever G is automatically rocked to actuatethevalve.- A cam, indicated in dotted lines at '21,'v is attached to theside of the segment Vgear D, and works through an opening orseat,lindicated at 22, in the castingd, where- ,by the valve controllinglever G, may be automatically operated, as the power mechamsm approachesthe limits of its stroke in eccentric relation with respect to saidshaft 4. An arm 24, is pivotally mounted inter-- the door approaches thelimits of its movements. Attached to the end of shaft 4, upon which thedoor. operating lever K is mounted, 'and which rocks with said lever, isa pin or stud 23, said pin orstud being mounted in mediate its ends uponthe' stud 23. To one 24,- is free to move upwardly when rocked about`-itspivot stud 23, but when rocked downwardly, said free end of arm 24,brings up against a lug 30, formed on casting 20.

, It will be noticed that since the pin 23, is

mounted in eccentric relation with respect to the axis of shaft 4,therefore, when the door operating lever K, is moved from the positionoccupied by it when the door is in completely).

to the door operating lever y together, the valve controlling lever-Gg,wiill either` direction to effect a cushioning of the` -door movements,1n a well known manner, as'

end of arm 24, is pivotally connected a linkl opened position, thisbeing the position s own in Fig; 3, the shaft 4, is also axially rotatedin theidirection of the hands of a clock. Consequently, the eccentricstud 23, will be moved around the axis of ,rotation oi' shaft 4. gli, atthe time the door operating lever K is thus moved to cause the door'tomove toward closed position, and the eccentric stud 23, correspondinglymoved, as

above' stated, the power operat'ng mechanism is moving with said leverthe pistonsB, B', andrack bar C are coincidently" moved, the lug 29,will be immediately withdrawn lfrom4 proximity 4to the bell crank nlever arm 27, and therefore the movement of' eccentric stud 23,.'about`the axis of shaft 4' will merely result in freely moving or rocking't-hebell crank 26, 27, and thevalve controlling mechanism will nt be'inanyWayaected.l So long, therefore,`as the power operating mechanism iscoupled or connected K, so as to\move not be affected' by the positionlof eccentric stud 2 3.' It, however, the dom` operating lever K,isdisconnected I erating mechanism, and is moved by hand in the directionto close' the door, so thatthe eccentric stud 23 is moved around theaxis of shaft 4, the-pistons and rack C,vnot being moved, the lug 29,will serve as a stop to' prevent the free rocking movementl of the arm27 of the bell `crank lever,.and thereferred to, will b e imparted tothe free end ofarm 24, which free end will consequently be forcedagainst l'ug'30, thereby rocking the casting 16, about the plvot 17, andcausing the 'valve lever connecting rod 19, to be moved toward theright. These various connections are so proportioned, that just as thedoor approaches and. nearly reaches its closed position, the valve leverconnecting rod 19 will have been suiiciently moved to place the valvelever G in such a position that the operating medium in the 'powercylinder will be reversed, thereupon causing the pistons` and rack C,and consequently, the segment gear D, to move in the reverse direction,or

in a direction to followup automatically the door closing movement ofthelever K, thereby completing the closing movement of the door, if suchmovement has not already been completed, and securing the door inclosedposition, the power mechanism automatifrom the power op- 4fore themovement of eccentric stud 23, rc-

cally attaching itself, as above explained, to

the door operating lever, and hence again placing the dor operatinglever under the control of its power operating devices.

It will be noticed that as soon as the pistons and connected rack beginto move in a direction to cause the rack arm 5, to follow after, or tofollow up the movement of the door operating lever K, the lug 29 will bewithdrawn from engaging relation with respect tothe bell crank arm 27,thereby releasing the lock which previously had held the free end of arm24 against the shoulder 30, of casting 16, and consequently enablingythe castino 16, thereafter to be freely rocked, as, or instance, bymanipulating' the valve control lever G, by the actuations of hand leverH, and thereby enabling the power mechanism under control of the handlever H, to be brought into action to move the door to open position. Itwill be seen therefore, that the final closing movement of the door, notonly automatically moves the valve to cause the power mechanism tofollow up the ,door closing movement of lever K, the follow u'p movementof the power mechanism being initiated just as the door approaches itsclosed4 position, but also the mechanism which automatically moves thevalve lever, in the manner just described, is automatically released, assoon as the power mechanism has'startedl on its follow up travel, so asto permit thereafter the manual control 'of valve lever' Gr, from thehand lever H.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings,it will be seen that I provide a simple and eticient door operatingmechanism, having ower devices for moving the door, which 1s capable ofbeing detached to permit movements of the door by hand, when desired,and wherein the power devices are permitted to follow up the manualmovements of the door, and to again become automatically coupledthereto. lt will also be seen that, when desired, the follow up movementof the power mechanism will be accomplished automatically.

A construction ofdoor operating mechanism possessing the characteristicshereinabove referred to, is applicable for use upon elevated, subway andsurface street cars, elevators and the like, where dooroperating'mechanisms arefemplo ed, and the construction aords special avantages in the handling of large crowds in entering and leaving thecars, and which crowds are sometimes so great as vto require attendantsor guards on the platforms or stations,

or where the closing of the doors by a motor, in case of passengerscrowding on the car, might be dangerous andresult in injury or .amage tothe passengers. It will be /seen that a structure embodying myinvention, enables' the guard on the platform or on the car to close thedoor easily by hand, thereby avoiding danger of injury t passengers andafter the door is closed or nearly closed, the ower mechanism ismanipulated so as to ollow. up the door, and fastenit securely in itsclosed position. .While I have shown and describedspecie structuresembodying the principles of vmy invention. my invention, as defined inthe claims, isnot to be limited `or restricted to the specific detailsof structure and ar]- rangements shown. p y

Havinof now set forth the object ,and nature of my invention, andaconstruction embodying the principles thereof, what' I claim as new anduseful, and of my own `invention, and desire to securev by LettersFatentiszf l i ,1.

l. The combination with power operated devices having detachableengaging connections ada ted to be connected tok a door for moving tielatter in both directions, of means independent of the'power operateddevices for moving Athe doorbyhand, independently of the` power operateddevices.

2. The combinationwith power operated devices having detachablerengaging connection with a door to move the same,`of`

automatic means for disconnecting the door from its power operatingmeans', and means independent of the power devicesfor moving the door byhand.

8. The combmationlwith4 a door, of power I operated devices forrmovingthe same, de-

tachable devices j' for disconnecting the power operateddevices anddoor, whereby the door may be, moved manually, and

means for automatically causing the power devices to follow up themanual movements of the door. j v

4. The combination with la door, of power operated devices for movingthe same,V

means for automaticallyAV disconnecting the power devices from the doorwhen the door is in its opened position, whereby the door may be movedmanuallytoward closed position, and means for automatically coulplingthe power-devices and door.

5. The combination with a door, of power devices for moving the same,means for disconnecting the power devices from the door, whereby thedoor movements lmay beeffected manually, means for causing the powerv fdevices to follow up the manually operated door movements, said meansoperating to automatically connect the power devices and door.

ioo

ilo

6. The combination with a door, cfa cq.

power cylinder and piston, gearing actuated y said piston for moving thedoor,` and means for detachably connecting said gearing and door` whenthe latter is in opened` posit-ion.

7 The combination with ardoor, of an;V

operating lever therefor, power `devices for moving said lever, andmeans lfor detach,-

ably connecting said power devices :and lever.

,8. The combination with a door, of an operating lever therefor, avrocking arm, said lever and arm being mounted for independent movement,said arm arranged to engage said lever to be mov'ed'in one direction, apawl to lock said arm andj lever, whensaid arm 1s moved m the otherdirection, power devices for rocking said arm, and means forautomatically disconnecting said pawl.

9. The combination with a door, of an operating lever therefor, a powerdriven arm arranged to engage said lever to move the same in onediretcion, and a detachable pawl larranged to engage the lever to movethe same in the other direction,and means for automatically releasingsaid pawl when the door is in its opened position.

10. The combination with a door, of an operating lever therefor, amovable arm arranged to engage said lever to move the door toward closedposition, a pawl arranged to engage said lever to move the same in theopposite direction to open the door, power devices for moving said arm,and means for automatically detaching said pawl when the door is in itscompletely` opened position.

11. The combination with a door, of an operating lever therefor, amovable arm arranged to engage said lever, to move the same int-0 adirection to close the door, a detachable pawl to engage the lever tomove the door toward opened position, power devices for moving said arm,means for automatically detaching said pawl when the door is in itsopened position, whereby the door may be moved manually and inde,pendently of the power devices, and means `for moving said arm and pawlinto engaginto Aopened or closed position, power operated devices formovingsaid lever, including a movable arm, said arm being mounted forindependent movement for connecting and disconnecting said arm andlever.

14. The combination with a door, of an' operating lever therefor, apower driven arm mounted independently with reference to said lever,detachable connections between said arm and lever, such parts beingdisconnected automatically when the door is'in opened position, wherebythe door may be moved manually, independently of the power driven arm,and means for causing said arm to follow up the door movements .andautomatically engage said lever.

15. The combination with a door, of a power cylinder having a piston, arack operated thereby, a gear operated by said rack, an arm connected tosaid gear to move therewith, an independently mounted door operatinglever arranged to be engaged by said arm when the latter is moved 1n onedirection, a pawl carried by said arm, and engaging said lever to movethe same in the other direction, and a stop to automatically disengagesaid pawl when the door is inv its opened position.

16. The combination with a door, of an operating lever therefor, a powerdriven arm, said arm andY lever being mounted for independent movement,said arm arranged` to engage said lever to move the same in onedirection, a pawl carried by said arm and arranged to engage said leverin another direction, a stop to automatically disengage said pawl whenthe lever is in one limit of its movement, whereby the door and itsoperating lever may be operated independently of the power driven arm,and' means operated by the independent movement of said lever to causesaid arm to follow up said lever and automatically engage and lockl withthe same.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of thesubscribing witnesses, on this fourth' day Vof September PARIS R.=FORMAN. Witnesses:

E. REiLLY, FRANK JOHNSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, v

Washington, D. C.

